As Bloomington seeks to generate thousands of new housing units in the next decade, some want to divert the bulldozers around an affordable housing stock that’s hiding in plain sight.
Bloomington will need 13,600 more housing units before 2030, a study predicts. Of those, 6,100 are raising concern from city council member Chris Sturbaum.
It’s not more density Sturbaum is averse to, but rather, where that density goes and what it replaces. If Bloomington’s core neighborhoods are cleared to make way for multi-family complexes, he said, the city may lose the affordability that’s built into older singlefamily homes.
To keep pace with current growth, the Bloomington area will need to build roughly 7,500 new housing units and replace 6,100 before 2030, according to Ratio Architects Inc., which projected a need for 13,600 new housing units about a year ago, when the city asked the Indianapolis firm to update the city’s developing Comprehensive Master Plan.
Sturbaum said the document is not clear about where the new housing would go.
He grew up during a time in which his father worked on the city plan commission to preserve the value single-family homes bring to a neighborhood. He sees the core neighborhoods’ value as creating stability and as a prime investment for both the city and homeowners. He worries about the impact new developments may have on neighborhood growth if single-family homes are replaced or repurposed.
Records from the Monroe County Assessor’s Office show there are about 15,800 residential parcels within city limits, a mix of single-family homes and multi-family residences. Sturbaum worries the Comprehensive Master Plan that is currently being reviewed and refined promotes more multi-family residences in core neighborhoods.